I job searched for 8 months with many of my smartest friends with good jobs helping me write resumes and cover letters for each job. I applied to jobs nearly every day, usually having some experience in the field and a relevant college diploma. Even the "urgently hiring" positions that were up for months didnt reply to me.
I ended up getting a job at a local business through word of mouth that they were hiring. When i submitted my resume the team said they didn't even read it. The algorithms and AI used in hiring are probably hurting these companies more than they are helping.
People get annoyed that "people hire their friends", but the reality is, when you have a sea of random people all lying in various forms on resumes, HR on job postings, etc it's so much easier and usually better for a company to have 'vetted' candidates proposed by current employees. Ie networking.
It's still the best way to get a job even with all of this fancy HR algorithm bs.
I didn't know anybody at the company i got hired at. I was giving them some business and asked them some pretty specific questions. The secretary joked wow you want a job and i said well maybe and went from there. Months of writing resumes and cover letters then i get a job the old fasioned way by walking in with a smile and a handshake.
You are right in many ways still, there is some truth to the saying "it is not what you know, but who you know."